Yesterday i walked and photographed all day, from Vrsac i went to Mali Zam, and from there i walked to Vatin then walked along the border. The difference between serbia and romania is huge, few km distance make an enourmous change. Serbia’s side of the border is mainly fields and little villages which are very moders. I foud the romanian side more interesting, as it has a more remote feeling.

i walked so much that once back inVrsac i fell asleep and could not update the blog! Today i am heading back to ArtBox in Novi Sad…the past few days have been intense and i am looking forward to return to the comfort of the residency!

I spent a day in Sannicolau Mare which i didn’t find interesting, so i was considering returning to Jimbolia, the unfriendly border village , photograph for a day and then head back to Serbia.

but, problems…as i wrote before in this part of Romania public transports are non existents. And i could not find a taxi or someone to give me a lift. I started feeling trapped! The only way back to serbia seemed to be a ride to novi sad in a shared car with workers, kindly organised by the hotel lady, and then a train to Vrsac, in Serbia.

so here i am, Vrsac, about 20km from the border. I was hoping to visit the village of Moravita, in Romania, but i would have ended up there with nowhere to stay, as it seems there is no border crossing on foot. So i reached Vrsac where tomorrow, again with a total la k of public transport, i will somehow walk around villages of Vatin ( border crossing romanian side) M. Zam, and Gudurica (Seems there is a bus for Gudurica!!!). I went to Vrsac bus station and asked, the lady at the counter looked suprprised and replied me “hitchhike”.

Yesterday i left Novi Sad and I arrived, passing through Kikinda, to Jimbolia, first village in Romania. I crossed on a 2vagon train that moved slowly, there was only another passanger. I arrived in jimbolia and a rather surprised policeman asked me lots of questions, as why was i there, why alone, why why why…isn’t this the EU? Aren’t we supposed to be free to go around?

in jimbolia i found an accommodation, the owner proudly displayed Bayern Munich memorabilia and talked about Germany, where he lives.  He said he had a room for 1 day, when i asked if i could stay more he replied ” no, no one stays here more than 1day” maybe a misunderstanding, but sounded rather bizarre!

i went around and photographed the countryside and people i met. A shepherd talked to me, mainly in german, and identified himself a  magyar…then asked if i have facebook: sheep herding in the era of social networks!

Today i arrived in Sannicolau Mare. The bus that supposedly goes from Jimbolia to Sannocolau Mare doesn’t exist, and i had to take a ride from a guy i stopped in the street asking for a taxi. What can i say…he drove like a lunatic but i survived!

Whilst the border Serbia-Croatia does not present that many differences but mainly historical events war related, the border with Romania is strinkingly different, as Romania is more rural and desolated. There is a huge difference between large cities and rural border areas in Romania, possibly due to the country being so vast.

As Croatia joins officially the EU and becomes the 28th member, the borders change again.

what prompted me to visit the borders of all Eu countries was the fact that i often hear news on how the UK may leave the Eu, or Greece may get kicked out due to debts, or hw new countries will join but others are not happy on them joining…as if the belonging to a european identity could be done and undone .

today however i will head the opposite way, toward the border with Romania. In many conversations i have heard how different romania is from serbia…true? I am going for 4days around Jimbolia (border crossing), Sannicolau Mare (north) and , if transport permit, to Oravita.

Yesterday i went to Bezdan via Sombor, from Bezdan i walked about 15 km along the Danube, Croatia on the other side. I photographed landscape and a man dressed as boat captain( but no boat in sight)

today rest, research and art galleries in Novi Sad

Today i set off for 2 days on the Sombor-Bezdan route , where i could not photograph at the beginning of the week due to rain. bezdan is approximatly 5km to the border crossing to Batina in Croatia.

Today in Novi Sad at Art Box: i have discussed various times with other artsist the significance of borders and here in this border city ( as the locals defin it…border is 45 km away…which i consider a bit far) all those i have spoken to talk about the border with Croatia with reference to the war, although most admit that Serbian and Croatian are very similar in language and habits. I was suggested to photographs in the army barracks were many ex soldiers live in poverty. hose moved to Serbia from other parts of Jugoslavia with the promise of a better life if they fought for “great serbia”. Now they live in barracks. Unfortunatly i didin’t get permission to photograph. I was suggested to visit the destroyed tv station, bombed by Nato in 1999. Liljiana recalls sitting on the other side of the river and seeing the bombing, with parts of the building falling into the Danube. curious, i went there. It’s huge. Only the first floor can be entered as the remaining 3 floors look like they may fall down…i was’t brave enough to go up these stairs. Inside lots of debrids. But very interesting for me I found bottles of photographic chemicals, rolls of 16mm film ( i took some with me), vhs, tapes and lp. While i was there i met and old lady who had taken her 3 nieces to visit the place, as she used to work there.

http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2013/06/26/foto/volti_e_luoghi_ai_confini_dell_europa_il_progetto_fotografico-61871911/1/?ref=HRESS-14#1

My work published on italian newspaper La Repubblica!

The past 2 days have been very frustrating and i haven’t obtained much. I set off from Sombor ( 2 hours by bus from Novi Sad) toward Bedzen ( crossing with croatia) and nearby Backi Breg, crossing with Hungary…once arrived it started raining. 2 days of torrential rain, during which not only i took only a couple of shots, but also got completly drenched in rain, had to hitchhike back to Sombor and return today to Novi Sad…ironically in Novi Sad it is sunny!

Today i am setting off toward Apatin-Sombor-bezdan along the border with Croatia…i won’t be able to take the laptop with me so update when i return in a couple of days!